MacCormick Fjord, Greenland --British
team leader Adrian
Hayes, along with teammates Devon McDiarmid
and Derek
Crowe reached their finish point at the head of MacCormick
Fiord near Qaanaq, Greenland, after a 67-day, 2648 miles (4262
km) journey across the full length of Greenland-setting the
world record for the Longest
unsupported Arctic journey. Photo: Devon McDiarmid, left, Adrian
Hayes, middle, and Derek Crowe reached the finish point of
their expedition late Saturday.
/ Emirates NBD Greenland Quest (enlarge
photo)

Their arrival capped off a 67-day
journey across the full length of Greenland: from the Atlantic
coast in the south, up to the northern Arctic coast, then
west to MacCormick Fiord, on the Baffin Sea coast to the northwest.

Much of their expedition involved crossing
the inland ice cap that covers 85 per cent of the country
— a task that Hayes said was particularly gruelling in the
last 10 kilometres toward the finish.

Adrian
Hayes, a former Gurkha officer, used wind to power
his kite-skis as he made the 2,200-mile trek in just 67 days,
beating the previous record of 1,400 miles held by British
explorer Alex Hibbert.

Mr Hayes, 49, and his Canadian team-mates
Derek Crowe and Devon McDiarmid also became the only three
men in history to vertically cross Greenland.

"It's been a really difficult and
challenging expedition, particularly mentally. We have never
been able to take anything for granted and have had so many
unexpected things descend on us throughout... But the sights
we have seen were completely awe inspiring," Hayes said.

Completing the journey unsupported meant
Mr Hayes and his team received no food drops and made no visits
to towns and settlements en route.

He said of the trip: "It's been a really difficult
and challenging expedition, particularly mentally. "Every
aspect of the trip was sustainable. We lived, ate and slept
in an area of 7ft by 2ft in our tents. We lived off three
litres of water per day and relied on both solar and wind
power, with nothing going to waste.

"We had no resupplies of any kind for two
months and no doctor on call, yet, we've ended this trip completely
healthy.Sustainability isn't about going back to living in
caves but being responsible, smarter and sensible."

In the final phase of their journey, from
the JP Kocks Fjord to Qaanaq, the end destination of this
Emirates NBD Greenland Quest - Atlantic to Arctic 2009, the
explorers used snowkites to move themselves along faster when
the wind was strong enough, and pulled their sleds when the
wind died down.

Already a Guinness World Record holder
for being the fastest man to complete the "Three Poles" –
travelling to the North and South Pole and then reaching the
summit of Everest – Adrian
Hayes wanted to use his latest expedition, the Emirates
NBD Greenland Quest, to highlight the impact of climate change
and the importance of sustainable living.

"We knew all the facts and figures about
the amount of water melting from the ice cap but when you
actually see it gushing and cascading down, it really hits
you."

You can see photos of and read all
about this incredible journey, during which the team has seen
the melting Greenland ice cap up close and personal, in Hayes
blogs.